Capitalism in the soil?
AM fungi (blue blotches and filaments) in a stained root.
Nature may work the same way the good ol’ American business model does: more money = more goods.
In today’s world, a productive business makes more money and acquires more supplies. In the natural world, a productive plant makes more sugar and acquires more nutrients.
Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are savvy business partners of 80% of plants on earth today. Living in plant roots, the sole job of mycorrhizal fungi is to uptake nutrients from the soil for the plant. As in good business practice, plants repay the fungi for their service in the currency of sugars and lipids, created from carbon dioxide and sunlight within their leaves.
A wealthy plant is a happy plant. With more “money,” it can afford more mineral nutrients, and use these basic building blocks to expand its business. It can now create more money makin’ leaves. With more leaves, it outcompetes other plants nearby.
This business partnership may be the oldest of its kind, about 400 million years old.
Learning how to exploit this fungi-plant partnership in agriculture would mean less use of fertilizer, cleaner water ways, and less soil erosion with large crop yields. Is it a miracle? No, it is simply the work of a skillful business partner.
In today’s world, a productive business makes more money and acquires more supplies. In the natural world, a productive plant makes more sugar and acquires more nutrients.
Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are savvy business partners of 80% of plants on earth today. Living in plant roots, the sole job of mycorrhizal fungi is to uptake nutrients from the soil for the plant. As in good business practice, plants repay the fungi for their service in the currency of sugars and lipids, created from carbon dioxide and sunlight within their leaves.
A wealthy plant is a happy plant. With more “money,” it can afford more mineral nutrients, and use these basic building blocks to expand its business. It can now create more money makin’ leaves. With more leaves, it outcompetes other plants nearby.
This business partnership may be the oldest of its kind, about 400 million years old.
Learning how to exploit this fungi-plant partnership in agriculture would mean less use of fertilizer, cleaner water ways, and less soil erosion with large crop yields. Is it a miracle? No, it is simply the work of a skillful business partner.
Research publications:
Indorf, J.L.*, Weremijewicz, J.*, Janos, D.P., Gaines, M.S. (2019) Adding authenticity to inquiry in a first-year, research-based, biology laboratory course. CBE Life Sciences 18(3) Link
* The authors contributed equally to the manuscript
* The authors contributed equally to the manuscript
Weremijewicz, J. & Janos, D.P. (2019) Investigation of plant interactions across common mycorrhizal networks using rotated cores. Journal of Visualized. Experiments. (145), e59338, doi:10.3791/59338. Video Link to paper
Weremijewicz, J., Sternberg L da SL, Janos, D.P. (2017) Arbuscular common mycorrhizal networks mediate intra- and interspecific interactions of two prairie grasses. Mycorrhiza. 28(1), 71-83 doi10.1007/s00572-017-0801-0 Link
Weremijewicz, J., and Seto, K. (2016) Mycorrhizas influence functional traits of two tallgrass prairie species. Ecology and Evolution. 6(12), 3977-3990. doi: 10.1002/ece3.2129 Link
** This article was published with undergraduates
** This article was published with undergraduates
Weremijewicz, J., Sternberg L da SL, Janos, D.P. (2016) Common mycorrhizal networks sustain competition and preferentially allocate 15N to large plants. New Phytologist. 212(2): 461-471.doi10.1111/nph.14041 Link
Weremijewicz, J., Almonte, J.I., Hilaire, V.S., Lopez, F.D., Lu, S.H., Marrero, S.M., Martinez, C.M., Zarate, E.A., Lam A.K., Ferguson, S.A.N., Petrakis, N.Z., Peeples, K.A., Taylor, E.D., Leon, N.M., Valdes, C., Reeve, A.B., Hass, M.A., Palow, D.T., Downing, J.L., (2016) Microsatellite primers for two threatened orchids in Florida; Encyclia tampensis and Cyrtopodium punctatum (Orchidaceae). Applications in Plant Sciences. 4(4): 1500095 Link
*** This article was published with high school students
*** This article was published with high school students
Weremijewicz, J., and Janos, D.P. (2013) Common mycorrhizal networks amplify size inequality in Andropogon gerardii populations. New Phytologist. 198(1) 203-213. Link
Galloway, M.M., DiGangi, J.P., Hottle, J.R., Huisman, A.J., Mielke, L.H., Alaghmand, M., Shepson, P.B., Weremijewicz, J., Klavon, H., McNeal, F.M., Carroll, M.A., Griffith, S., Hansen, R.F., Stevens, P.S., Bertman, S.B., and F.N. Keutsch. (2012) Observations and modeling of formaldehyde at the prophet mixed hardwood forest site in 2008. Atmospheric Environment 49:403-410. Link